


bullseye

by winterparx



Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 21:21:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15470307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterparx/pseuds/winterparx
Summary: [ in which two people find an unexpected attraction in the middle of their local target ]copyright '18 • yes this is based off that target girl tweet





	1. Chapter 1

_@awsten: SAW A CUTE GIRL AT TARGET AND LIKE ANY NORMAL PERSON WOULD DO,_  
_INSTEAD OF INTRODUCING MYSELF I WENT HOME AND WROTE AN OBSESSIVE LOVE SONG ABOUT HER  
AND THAT'S THE ONLY THING _ I'VE _LISTENED TO ON REPEAT THE LAST 2 DAYS_

 

 

 

 

**MERCEDES**

**VILLAREAL**

 

 

 

**AWSTEN**

****

**KNIGHT**


	2. Chapter 2

It was around nine on Sunday night when Awsten's iphone started blaring the oh-so-familiar FaceTime chime, disrupting his current writing process. Groaning, the boy set down his guitar and grabbed his phone, almost hanging up as soon as the contact name pop up on screen.  _Almost._

"What do you want, Gracie?" Awsten deadpanned.

Offended, his younger sister's eyebrow quirked up. "What? No  _hi, how are you?_  or  _wow, it's so great to see you, oh dear sister of mine_ -"

"Okay first of all," Awsten cut her off, shaking his head for emphasis, "no one fucking says 'dear sister of mine' anymore, so cut that shit out. Second of all, we literally just saw each other at dinner, like, two hours ago. Plus, you're two rooms away from me, why don't you just walk over and knock?"

Gracie waved off her brother and simply said, "Too lazy. Besides, you're busy and I figured you weren't going to answer the door."

That was true. Awsten  _was_  busy and probably wouldn't have answered the door (not after the first knock, anyway). Speaking of being busy, this conversation seemed like it was going nowhere and all Awsten wanted was to hang up and go back to his writing, but he also had a feeling Gracie would either complain to their mom about it or keep pestering him until she got what she wanted, so he begrudgingly kept the conversation going. "Again, what do you want, Gracie?"

"We're out of ice cream-"

Awsten couldn't help the exasperated groan that slipped past his lips as he all but flopped back onto his bed. "Fucking  _Christ_ , Gracie-"

"You're the one with a car here, Awsten!" she cut him off, ignoring the eyeroll from the other side of the screen. "And I'm on my period, I could just  _really_ go for some Halo Top right now."

"Just ask Mom and Dad," Awsten grumbled, wiping a hand down his face as he tried not to fully yell at his sister. "I'm really busy, Gracie."

Now it was Gracie's turn to roll her eyes. "Dad's just lying down to sleep, you know he gets up early in the morning, and asking Mom is just going to wake him up- and besides!  _You're_  the one who ate the last of  _my_  ice cream, remember?"

Awsten did remember, and right now he was sorely regretting that. He was too nice of a person to not go replace the ice cream that was clearly his sister's, and Gracie was well aware of that.

" _Fine_ ," he huffed, dragging out that last syllable. "I'll go get your damn Halo Top."

Gracie cheered and grinned brightly at her brother through the screen. "Thanks, Aws, you're the best!" And with that, the FaceTime disconnected and Awsten was left sitting there on his bed with a million thoughts racing through his mind, more specifically about how much he really did  _not_  feel like going to get his sister ice cream.

After a few moments of sitting there contemplating over ordering Gracie ice cream through Postmates instead of leaving the house, Awsten drug himself out of bed, slipped on his older pair of Vans, and then grabbed his keys and wallet before walking out his room and downstairs towards his car.

Driving to the nearby Target, Awsten had the local radio station playing in the background, not necessarily to focus on, but just as white noise. His mind was still racing, although now it was back to focusing on the music he was working on in his bedroom, the music he had, unfortunately, hit some sort of wall with, and on the upcoming shows he would be playing in a few months. The last tour his band, Waterparks, played on was hard, a lot of personal things in his life had been going on, and while being home was nice and gave him time to relax and process all of his emotions, Awsten was itching to get back on the road and play music, or as of right now, fix his current mental block around the new music. His thoughts, however, were starting to become a bit overwhelming, and if his brain didn't shut up soon, he just might go insane.

That was the kind of night Awsten was having, and as he pulled into a middle parking space and glanced up at the familiar red neon logo, Awsten hoped that this would be a quick trip.

For the time of night that it was, Target was fairly busy. It wasn't overflowing with people, but Awsten had definitely seen the store way more deserted at this time of night. The area that he lived in usually catered to the group of people who went to bed fairly early in the evening, so seeing a bunch of people out and about at Target so late was odd- not that Awsten really cared or anything. He was honestly only concerned with getting his sister's ice cream (and some blueberries for himself because he deserved it) and then getting the hell out of here.

His mood, and his thoughts, just seemed to be getting progressively worse the closer he got to the frozen food section. A lone baby was starting to scream, random loud teenagers were being loud and taking up most of the walkspace, and there was just some weird feeling in the air that made Awsten's skin crawl. He couldn't explain it, but the world just seemed to be spinning too fast and full of too much  _everything_ , and he just prayed that the ice cream aisle would be empty and that maybe he could just take a breath.

But then Awsten's world stopped as soon as he turned down that fateful aisle.

The aisle was empty like he'd hope, all except for one girl who was standing in front of the Halo Top ice cream. He could only see her side profile through the semi-foggy glass door, but seeing this stranger only a few feet in front of him felt like all the wind had been knocked out of his chest. Awsten was dumbfounded, frozen to the spot as he just watched the girl grab her ice cream. It wouldn't hit Awsten until later that was he was doing was incredibly creepy, but he couldn't help it. It was like he forgot how to operate his own body. Her long, coffee colored hair fell down in waves, highlighting and framing her face perfectly. Even in sweatpants and a baggy school sweater, this ethereal creature in front of him oozed elegance, and if Awsten was being completely honest, she was by far the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

Something about her was compelling to Awsten, and it was dumb, because he was just watching her grab ice cream from the freezer, but he felt drawn to her. Maybe that fairy tale bullshit of "love at first sight" was real after all, or maybe Awsten was subconsciously thinking a little below the belt- either way, all he wanted to do was walk right up to her and ask her out. If only he could have figured out how to snap out of his daze before he watched her place the ice cream in her basket and then walk right out of the aisle.

As soon as she left, Awsten deflated. His mind was still reeling from seeing this random, gorgeous stranger, but he was also pissed at himself for not snapping out of it and going to introduce himself. There was just something about her that felt...well, different. And that was cheesy and some weird high school bullshit, but it was the truth, and Awsten was never going to forgive himself for letting her walk away, at least not right now. But as he made his way over to where the Halo Top was, a light went on inside of his brain, and it was all Awsten could do to not forget his sister's ice cream as he all but ran to go check out.

Yes, it was somewhat depressing coming to terms with the fact that he would never see this random stranger again, but suddenly that wall he had hit came crumbling down and he knew exactly what to write for a song now. He paid for the ice cream, rushed out of Target, and sped home to write a song about the girl who never saw him that he was practically obsessed over.

But what Awsten didn't realize is that she  _had_  seen him.

Mercedes was recovering from a rough day at work, as well as running into her ex-boyfriend at her favorite food truck, so the only logical thing to do in her mind was to run to her local Target and drown her feelings in her favorite pint of Halo Top (which she could do guilt-free, a plus with her current diet and workout routine).

As Mercedes turned away from the ice cream door, however, she noticed a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't initially put much thought into the new splash of color appearing in the empty aisle- after all, it wasn't her first time seeing brightly colored hair at Target, but more importantly, she just wasn't really in the mood to people watch. All she wanted was to go home, eat her Halo Top, and then catch up on the last few episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine she had missed. So, with that in mind, she grabbed her pint of mint chip Halo Top and made her way up the front of the store, the splash of purple in her line of sight being put behind her.

She made a quick stop in the stationary aisle to look at the clearance notebooks (Mercedes was a sucker for notebooks), but eventually, she made her way to the check out line, solely focused on buying her ice cream and brand new notebook. However, Mercedes' entire focus shifted as soon as she looked up from her purchase, and that same flash of purple from earlier was now shining in a whole new light.

Admittedly, Mercedes couldn't see much of the guy two customers in front of her, but she could see his faded, bright lilac colored hair with dark roots shining through, along with just enough of his face to see how his light stubble wrapped around a jawline so sharp that it could cut diamonds. He was attractive, there was no doubt in Mercedes' mind about that, and his sense of style was casual enough to blend in with the locals, but also with just enough of an edge that led on to the fact that maybe this stranger wasn't from around here, or at least didn't make Houston his home anymore. And when he laughed- oh god, she swore that smile was brighter than the sun itself, and his musical laughter was sure to be ringing in her ears for days to come.

Her heart skipped a beat and her stomach fluttered at the sight of this gorgeous man in front of her. She knew it was rude, and a little bit creepy, but Mercedes couldn't help but stare at the purple haired stranger in front of her, and as he gathered his bags to leave, her heart started to crack. It dawned on her that she was never going to see this boy again, and for some reason she could not fathom, watching this stranger walk out the front door was the hardest part of her day. Mercedes didn't believe in love at first sight, that kind of stuff only happened in novelas, but god, if she didn't wish this were a novela right now. She was just so drawn to this strange man, she just wished she had an explanation as to why, and Mercedes didn't fully snap out of her trance until the poor Target cashier had to clear his throat to gather her attention. With cheeks burning from embarrassment, Mercedes quickly paid for her items and left, now more desperate than ever to drive home and stuff her face with ice cream.

You see, the rest of the day's events were completely gone from Mercedes' mind, that she was grateful for, but even as she finished her ice cream and went to sleep for the night, her mind was still haunted by the handsome stranger with the purple hair in Target. Mercedes would have given anything to see him again, and little did she know, only a few miles away, Awsten was sitting on his bed scribbling down random lyrics and chords wishing the same thing.

Fate has a funny way of working, however, and these two strange souls were about to get their wish.


End file.
